Burke Departure: Possible

Trey Burke may have said he'd be back next year in the immediate aftermath of Michigan's ouster from the NCAA tourney, but those things are always subject to change once the emotion of a tough loss wears off.

"We figured we had to at least see what's going on," Benji said. "That's where we're at. We're wanting to see where we're at and go from there.

"Trey just got to Ann Arbor. We just got here, and now we're talking about him leaving. It's just tough, it's a tough decision but hopefully we'll be back in Crisler this year. ... As of now, we're coming back. But anything can change. We're open."

Burke's dad says he's had reports that Trey could go anywhere from 18-24th overall. That is greatly divergent from draft boards maintained by Chad Ford (where he ranks 72nd) and Draft Express (not in the top 100, last pick of the first round in their 2013 mock) and could be agents trying to get a kid to sign; that's why they have advisory boards.

I don't think Burke's in a situation like Darius Morris, who left with full knowledge he probably wouldn't be a first-rounder, but at this point any Michigan fan who's assuming is doing the understandable thing.

If Burke does end up declaring Michigan is of course totally boned. At this point the #2 PG is either a walk-on or a 6'6" shooting guard who isn't even on campus yet. They'd probably get a transfer or late commit or something given the obvious opportunity but Trey Burkes don't grow on trees. With the NCAA moving up the withdrawal date over and over again at least we won't have to wait long to know: Burke is in or out by April 10th.

The state of NCAA basketball is such that there is incentive to root against your best players. I, and I presume most UM fans, are quietly glad THJ had an off year so we can get him back again. And, we now all know that if Trey does return, he is as good as gone next year if he repeats his 2011-2012 performance. So, we need to either rely on JB bringing in classes every year like he has lined up for the next two, or we need more guys who don't project well to the NBA but are college stars. Seems like there may be something to the Coach K strategy after all. (NOTE: It pains me to give dook credit for anything)

Three guys transferring, now this. And it all follows a very dismal end to the season. The Athletic Dept. administrators need to examine what is going on in the basketball program. Either something negative has been happening behind the scenes or we're just not recruiting the right people.

We just won a co-B10 championship for the first time in forever and we're going to fire the coach who's given us a taste of sweet basketball success after a decade in the basketball netherworld? No thank you sir.

May have been answered already somewhere else but, is what we're seeing here common in the BiG? 3 players including an important starter transferring and a freshman PG star looking to jump like this? How come this doesn't happen to MSU or does it and I just don't notice?

Neg me if this has been covered already and apologies if that is the case, but I'm trying to see where this stands relative to the norm in the BiG.

The thing I love most in the world has been held hostage by unacceptable people.- B. Cook<

So say Burke leaves, at least we'll have the Spring Game 4 days after on April 14th to feel better about it.

On an unrelated point, I am considering rooting for Michigan State to win the NCAA Tournament. If they do, I think Izzo would strongly consider retiring and going out on top. And that would be very good for us.

I'd be amazed if he went to the pros, as he is still an undersized PG at a position that looks pretty loaded in this draft. I thought Morris made a mistake when he left last year, and Burke would be doing the same if he decided to leave this year as well. That said, I wish him the best if he does leave.

This is the worst consecutive front page posts I can remember in a long time. What a shitty day. Should be fun to explain to a 6 and 4 year old that the player the followed every minute of the season was stolen away by the almighty dollar. The NBA sucks....

Pardon me, what exactly does "go figure" mean here? I agree with your sentiment that he should not forego the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent the university and possibly contend for a national championship or two.

Except for the other thing. That hurts the most. But the lack of respect hurts the second most.

He's not going anywhere. He will go in the first round next year - this year he is second round at best likely not to be drafted at worst.

This is the reality of running a top flight program. You will get some great players who will want to leave early. This is life to be honest.

I know we are getting bent out of shape but would you rather Beiliein recruit players who suck. Burke won't go - they will do well next year. Smotrycz leaving on the other hand really, really hurts....

And if Burke leaves we will figure it out. This program under Beilein just has....

The problem I have with this is simple: At Kentucky or North Carolina - real top flight programs - the guys who are leaving early are leaving because they are going to be picked in the first 15-20 picks or at least first round. The guys who have left Michigan early (Manny and Darius) went undrafted and drafted late, late second round. Trey would - probably at best - be drafted late in the second round.

If its really all about money, then thats fine. But someone needs to sit down with them and explain the massive difference between a lottery contract and an undrafted rookie contract.

You guys are thinking negative, I mean yes Trey Burke is a great basketball player, but we have Mitch McGary who dominated and will show it in the college level also, we have Vogrich coming back which will defianetly be very good this coming year, still have Morgan still have Hardaway Jr. And we are getting two 4 star point guards for this coming year. We will be a young team but we won't be bad at all, I see us doing good without Trey Burke, but if we did have them we almost have an automatic B1G win! Let's just hope Trey comes back to have another great season.

first, you spelled your last name wrong. second, what the hell happened to the team? i thought you and zack were building a foundation that was going to last. now we're turning over at least 6 and maybe 7 players. wtf, dude?

And is arguably the fastest and quickest player in the NBA. And was a good college defensive player by that point. And had much better shooting percentages than Trey. And he STILL didn't go until 18th in the first round because of his height.

And if Michigan lists him at 5'11", he's either that height or shorter. He's definitely not 6'1".

I love the guy as a college point guard, but his comparables either didn't get drafted at all, didn't get drafted in the first round, or best case scenario went in the latter half of the first round after staying several years and having great college careers. Jameer Nelson's actually a decent comp for what Trey could turn out to be, but Nelson stayed 4 years, led a smaller school to within a shot of the Final Four (amusingly, KO'd by a shot from another dinky point guard, John Lucas III, who for the first time this year is actually getting some run with an NBA team and contributing, and only getting that shot due to injuries), and won several National Player of the Year awards his last season. And still didn't get drafted until the 20th slot, because he's a 6' point guard.

I think this will all be moot because the advisory board is likely going to tell him he's got no shot at the first round and will tell him to stay in school. And to work on 1) his defense (for things he can do without team practice, workouts to try to improve his agility and quickness would help there), and 2) his shot.

Why would he wait? Don't say to make more coin, because that is not likely if he doesn't grow rapidly. He could also get hurt or have a bad season. If I was him I would wait, but I am over 20. I wouldn't trade a great education, experience, and maybe a possibility to move up a round.

It's much harder to turn down the money for these younger kids. If I were 19-20, I would probably take my chances and leave to. If true, this is unfortunate for Michigan, but I wish him well-whatever bs does.

NBA = Play bench warmer, average 1.2 pt's/game, get dropped in 2 seasons.

Just because you get drafted doesn't mean a 20 yr career, A degree gives you security for employment if things don't workout. Then again, I didn't grow up thinking that playing a professional sport was my "ticket" to success

But seriously, he should stay. If he was football or hockey I would be more understanding, but basketball career-ending injuries just dont seem as common. The seasoning he would get from an extra year prob outweighs that risk.

But as a risk-averse young man who has worked extremely hard at something all his life, I can see why he would want to start to get paid for it. Damn. I just hope whatever happens that it works out for him bc he's a tremendous player.

I realize this will probably sound a lot like the typical "why so-and-so-player should not go pro" argument we get every year, but seriously, Trey's dad is being fed some baaaad info. I mean 18-24?!? Really?!?

Trey was amazing for us this year but I've got to be honest, if I were an NBA GM, I would never consider a 5'11'' freshman PG, even if he did have a pretty spectacular season. Guys like Kyrie Irving and Brandon Knight are another matter, because even if they don't play up to the level you expected them to, you still have their height to work with. There were four freshman PG's taken in last year's draft, and all of them were 6'2'' or over and came out of college bball powerhouses (UConn, Kentucky, Texas, Kansas). With a guy like Burke, it's a shot in the dark, and the bust potential is enormous. Unlike the other guys, he was not highly touted after high school. You're basically hedging your bets on one year.